Group Formed To Oversee the Quality of Private Schools Fast Expanding Its

A group formed less than three years ago to oversee quality in
private education is fast expanding its scope and positioning itself as
a leader in the education-policy arena.

Last September, the National Council for Private School
Accreditation gave an inaugural stamp of approval to six charter
organizations that accredit private schools, including the Association
of Christian Schools International, the Florida Catholic Conference,
and the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist Schools. (See
Education Week, 10/6/94.)

At a meeting here last week, the Washington-based council granted
membership to four additional organizations, including one that
accredits early-childhood programs and a group of for-profit schools.
It also hosted a public-policy forum that gathered about 70
representatives from national and state agencies to discuss private
school accreditation.

Participants praised the national council's approach to school
improvement as a middle ground between demands for deregulation and
cries for accountability. The N.C.P.S.A. "will allow us to have
standards, and it will allow us to remain unique and individual," said
Linus Wright, a former U.S. undersecretary of education under President
Ronald Reagan and an advisory member of the council.

Maintaining Diversity

The council is essentially an umbrella accrediting body established
to approve private-school-accrediting associations that meet rigorous
standards. Charles J. O'Malley, the council's executive director,
formed the group in 1992 to meet what he saw as a glaring need in the
private school sector.

Nationwide, there are about 75 different associations that accredit
private schools. Few of the groups are well-known.

Most states do not require private schools to be accredited. But
most schools seek some kind of approval, either from the state on a
voluntary basis or from one or more of the regional bodies that certify
public schools and colleges.

Schools can also look to the 75 associations that have sprung up
over the past 50 years and that serve particular regions or
denominations.

It was that abundance of accrediting organizations that led Mr.
O'Malley to set up one more--one intended to have national recognition
and clout that would not only guarantee the validity of the others, but
also strengthen them through guidance and support from a larger
group.

In evaluating a group, the N.C.P.S.A. considers its academic
standards and its religious or moral mission, without dictating what
that mission should be.

Basically, Mr. O'Malley said, "we ask, are these associations doing
what they say they are doing vis-a-vis accrediting their own
schools?"

Not a Rubber-Stamp

"I predict this is probably one of the most important groups started
in American education over the past decade," said Rabbi Nochem Kaplan
of the National Society of Hebrew Day Schools, which represents close
to 500 schools.

Rabbi Kaplan said that for years, his group had been stumped trying
to figure out the best formula for improving the quality of education
in its schools. "Then this came up, and the collegial approach appealed
to us," he said.

Since he heard about the N.C.P.S.A., the society has decided to
become an accrediting body. It has begun pulling together manuals of
principles and standards, arranging site visits to member schools, and
starting a self-study process that generally takes groups at least a
year before they feel ready to present themselves to the national
council.

"There's been such an enthusiastic response," Rabbi Kaplan said.
"It's a nonthreatening process and it encourages people to be
themselves."

Nonetheless, approval from the council is not a "rubber-stamp
process," participants reiterated throughout the meeting.

The first day comprised hearings before the council's commission on
standards and review for each of the four groups applying for
membership: the Florida Kindergarten Council, the Christian Schools of
Florida, the Kentucky Non-public School Commission, and the National
Indepen-dent Private Schools Association.

The commission of accreditation experts raised a number of concerns
about the applicants' methods before recommending each for full
membership. The vote of approval for each of the groups by the
14-voting-member council marked the capstone of months of preparation
and work with an N.C.P.S.A. coordinator.

State Recognition

The policy forum that followed highlighted the growing recognition
of the national accrediting council in public-policy circles.

"We must find ways to coexist and support the common goal of quality
education," said Brenda Welburn, the executive director of the National
Association of State Boards of Education, in praising the group's
efforts.

A number of state officials, including those from Minnesota, North
Carolina, Oregon, and South Carolina, expressed interest in making the
council's accreditation equivalent to state approval. Such acceptance,
Mr. O'Malley said, could relieve states of their responsibilities to
accredit private schools, save them money, and eliminate possible
conflicts and lawsuits over separation of church and state.

The council could also ease certain federal regulations on private
schools and the process of corporate giving, speakers at the meeting
explained.

Maurice Berez, an adjudication officer with the U.S. Office of
Immigration and Naturalization Services, said he would soon propose
that schools with N.C.P.S.A. approval be made eligible to accept alien,
nonresident students. Currently, elementary or secondary schools must
be sanctioned by the state or by a nationally recognized accrediting
agency before they can enroll such students.

Cheryl Martin, the staff director for matching gifts at the
University of Maryland, said it may take a while before companies begin
to recognize the N.C.P.S.A. stamp.

But when they do, ~~it will alleviate their need to scrutinize
schools and the associations they belong to before making a gift, she
said. "I think they will welcome another body taking care of
things."

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